Narok children’s stakeholders have raised concern over few cases of teenage pregnancies that are brought in court compared to the high number of teenage pregnancies in the county.
Narok Senior Residents Magistrate in charge of children matters Adelaide Sisenda lamented only 70 cases were brought in court this year yet according to the report released by the ministry of Education, over 741 school girls are pregnant.
Among the 741 girls pregnant, 248 are candidates sitting for this year’s National examination 140 being in primary and 108 in secondary schools.
Ms. Sisenda who spoke at the court premises said they had dedicated the month of November to sensitize the community on the need to take personal responsibility to report culprits of teenage pregnancies and protect children against any form of injustice.
During the month, Ms. Sisenda said, cases of children will be given a priority in the court proceedings so that the children can get justice within the shortest time possible.
She observed that though incidents of teenage pregnancy were still on raise in the county, cases of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) had gone down.
She called on the society to help protect children by reporting incidents of defilement, FGM, early marriages and child labour immediately they spot it to the authority.
Office of Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) Narok Senior Counsel Duncan Ondimwa said his office was working with all stakeholders to ensure children’s matters were prosecuted in the manner they deserve.
He asked residents not to shy off from reporting children’s injustices to his office, promising to protect the witnesses who come to record statements.
Speaking in a different event, Narok governor Patrick Ntutu’s wife Mrs. Agnes Ntutu has asked the Maasai community not to hide culprits of defilement in their midst but instead speak out so as to punish the culprits.
She reiterated that the county government will work with the office of County Commissioner to ensure that all culprits of defilement were brought to book.
Dr. Gihotho Maina, a gynecologist and consultant on women matters lamented that the young children undergo psychological torture during the pregnancy season and after delivery asking parents to keep a close eye on their pregnant daughters.
He said at the age they fall pregnant, many of them are not ready to carry the pregnancy or take care of a child that affects their mental health.
During delivery, he said, the teenage mothers are at a risk of encountering complications like obstructed labour and high chances of tire at the birth canal.